Billionaire family sends U.S.-returned son to Hyderabad to face life's struggles, work as aam aadmi

Hitarth Dholakia eldest son of Ghanshyam Dholakia, one of the founders of Rs 6,000 crore Hari Krishna Exports stayed for a month in Hyderabad to understand pain and sufferings of the common people.

“I started looking for jobs as I hardly had any money. Fortunately, I found a lodge in Secunderbad for Rs. 100. I was sharing the room with 17 people there. Now my next task was to find a job for myself. After struggling for 3 days, I got a job at a multi-national food joint, which paid me a salary of Rs 4,000. As a part of the challenge, I worked there for 5 days and quit the job." says Hitarth.

The 23-year-old Hitarth Dholakia is the seventh son of Dholakia Family, Hari Krishna Exports which has a presence in more than 80 countries. Hitarth had studied in the USA. After completing his Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA) from a reputed university in New York, Hitarth had returned home in mid-June. Before entering in to their family business, his father asked him to live in a completely alien environment for a month that too without the Dholakia tag and a mobile phone. His father also did not tell him that his destination was Hyderabad. He gave him Rs. 500 and an envelope with a flight ticket. Coming out of his house he checked the ticket and it was to Hyderabad. So he reached Hyderabad on 10^th July. He first gathered information about the twin cities from fellow passengers and information brochures available at the tourism counter. He then took the airport bus from Shamshabad to Secunderabad.

Hitarth says he was "lucky enough" to have found a marketing job in a white board manufacturing unit. He again worked for 5 days and earned Rs. 1500. He changed 4 jobs in 4 weeks and earned Rs 5000 by the month-end.

Hitarth's younger sister Krupali said, "I was shocked when we came to Hyderabad and visited the places where my brother lived and worked. It was really a tough job and hard-to-believe situation for us, but I am proud of him and my family who are keeping this tradition alive to keep us grounded and to respect humans as well as the importance of money."

The Dholakia family has been following this tradition for years of sending their kids into an exile-of-sorts from a life of luxury.